In a fresh interview, Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid who already shot the limelight with his severe criticism on ‘The Kashmir Files’ at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), asserted He asserted that he “knows how to recognise propaganda disguised as a movie.”
Nadav Lapid, who is also the IFFI international jury, called ‘The Kashmir Files’ as a ‘propaganda movie’ that had no place at the international film festival, sparking a massive controversy.
Reacting to the backlash over his remark, Nadav told Israeli newspaper Ha›aretz, “Making bad films is not a crime, but this is a very crude, manipulative and violent propaganda film.” He said he feels it’s his duty to speak his mind as a member of the international jury.
“The truth is that I also couldn›t help but imagine a similar situation that might happen one day soon in Israel, and I would be happy that in such a situation the head of a foreign jury would be willing to say things as he sees them. In a way, I felt it was my duty to the place that invited me,” he added.
Nadav further continued and said that The Kashmir Files was “pushed into the official competition” of IFFI. “We learned that the film was pushed into the official competition of the festival due to political pressure… I feel as a foreigner who arrives there, you have an obligation to say the things that the people who live there may have a harder time saying. In such contexts, I don›t believe in secrets and whispers. If you stand on stage and are asked to speak, what will you talk about? Only about the beaches, you saw and the food you ate?» he added. Nadav, who admitted to not having ‘enough’ knowledge about the Kashmir conflict, also claimed that ever since he spoke against the film, he received ‘hundreds of emails and messages’ from Indian film personalities who are ‘happy about it.’
“Since this is a film that the Indian government encourages, I assume that the government there is not happy about it. But is a country only about its government? I assume not. What I said is not comfortable for the Government of India, nor for the government in the making in Israel, which the ambassador there represents,” he said.